Lift up your hearts!
Lift up your hearts!
Labor Day is coming and the beginning of September is here! May this month of changing seasons (daylight, weather, color) be a blessing to you and yours. I love September as the weather slowly changes, the days get a little shorter and we sort of “settle” in for fall. I’ll turned my respective calendars and they all presented September with rich color and wonderful views of the earth. Back to school has been underway already for most of us although I know some local colleges just got underway last week. Labor Day marks the unofficial official end of summer as the community pools close and schedules settle it for the long haul.
And maybe we want to rearrange our living room? Who was it that designed furniture to never fit through doorways? I lugged this couch to the doorway of the garage and I cajoled, maneuvered, turned and twisted (mostly my back!) to get this couch through the door. I figured it got in somehow and it’s going out somehow! I didn’t want to bang up the door frame and I didn’t want to scratch the floor or damage the couch itself. With cushions flying every which way my neighbor, who was helping me, offered a simple suggestion. He said why don’t you try and unscrew the legs of the couch? I thought there was no way that a) they needed to be removed, and b) they could be removed. I reluctantly tried and sure enough they unscrew perfectly. And, needless to say, the couch went right through and the legs were easily attached back in place. I have no memory of those same legs being taken off when the couch entered the house, but oh well. I thanked my neighbor sheepishly and carried on.
I thought about that incident later last night and realized how often in my life I long to make things far more complicated than they need to be! How many things in our lives could be easier if we just listened to a friend and took their advice? Or that we even seek help in the first place? Wouldn’t life be so easy if we just stopped over analyzing everything? We are in our heads so often that it’s hard to go the 18” down to our hearts! You want the key to the spiritual life with God? Follow your heart….Proverbs 3:5-7 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge the Lord and the Lord will make straight your paths.”
Don’t think so “hard” about things but reach out when and where necessary and seek advice from others. Help someone else on the team “move their couch” so to speak… and have some fun! It’s a new month coming, a new day and God has wonderful plans for us… we need not fear tomorrow or be anxious because God is already there. And we don’t need to feel guilty or ashamed of our past because God has forgiven us in Christ! A blessed Labor Day weekend and beginning of September!
Pr. Doug Givan is a pastor in the ELCA (Lutheran) church and can be reached at douggivan@yahoo.com
Posting a comment requires free registration:
- If you already have an account, follow this link to login
- Otherwise, follow this link to register